


August

by admiralheywood



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, Jane Austen - Freeform, Sanditon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25920172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/admiralheywood/pseuds/admiralheywood
Summary: If the meeting at cove had happened again but this time Charlotte didn't run away...Inspired by August by Taylor Swift:Salt air, and the rust on your doorI never needed anything moreWhispers of “Are you sure?”“Never have I ever before”
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood & Sidney Parker, Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the Schmidt to my Nick, who I love endlessly for being my biggest fan and least helpful editor.

Charlotte stood over Tom’s desk, piled high with papers he had accumulated since she last organized only days ago. A paper darkened with thin black ink slipped from the middle of a teetering pile, gliding noiselessly to the ground. She bent to retrieve it only to find it was not an ordinary business document, it was a plan. A plan for a theater, signed by a Mr. James Stringer. Her fingers traced the perfect geometry of its angles and curves, her touch full of wonderment.

“Ah Charlotte, yes very good I’ve been smothered by invoices recently” came a tired voice.

Charlotte's head snapped up to see Tom, in his paisley waistcoat standing before her with Mr. Sidney Parker leaning on the mantelpiece behind, looking bullish.

“Tom, Mr. Parker” she replied, nodding to each of them in turn. Sidney merely raised his chin in response.

“I’ll leave you to it, gentlemen,” said Charlotte making for the door of the study, closing it on her way out. She had just reached the top of the stairs, thinking she would respond to her sisters’ letter before lunch, when she turned at the loud bang of the study door being thrown open.

“Leave me, Tom, I cannot hear any more of this” Sidney yelled across his shoulder, striding down the front hall. “I am going for a swim… alone” he spits harshly. The front door slammed behind him, and after a moment of ringing silence, Charlotte heard Tom’s defeated sigh and slow movements back into the study.

Charlotte bit her lip nervously, should she ask Tom if he was okay, she wondered or was it better to pretend she had not seen anything. Just then, Mary and the children came through the front door, back from their walk. Maybe they had run into Sidney outside, and either way, Charlotte thought, Mary will be best at comforting her husband.

Her thoughts turned to the other Parker brother, the one she tried so hard to ignore. Charlotte did not think of herself as much of a lady, she was unable to keep her thoughts to herself and refused to fault herself for it. Honesty was a virtue. 

Still, she knew that even a reluctant lady should not be haunted by visions of Sidney’s bared body floating behind her eyes, as his words echoed in her mind. She had done her best to forget their meeting at the cove, and yet whenever she saw him in all his finery, she could not help but remember what lay beneath it. Taut muscle that rippled under fair skin, beaded with seawater, and dusted with dark curls. She found herself wondering how it would feel to trace the angles of his jaw and neck, to feel the heat of his breath on her cheek or the closeness of his arm wrapped around her waist.

“Hello dear” came Mary’s voice, looking up the stairway where Charlotte perched awkwardly on the top step, lost in thought. “Are you alright? You seem a bit distracted”

Charlotte's breath caught and the imaginary Sidney's hand dropped from where it had cupped her imaginary jaw. She blinked and furrowed her brows, shaking her head for good measure.

“Do I?” Charlotte replied anxiously, unnerved by the understanding look in her friends’ eyes, Mary just smiled softly at her. Charlotte made her way down the stairs, “I think I shall go for a walk; some fresh air would do me good”.

The truth was, she could hardly close her eyes without the image of Sidney Parker rising out of the waves in front of her bursting vividly in her mind. She had done her best to turn away quickly but, and she was secretly grateful for this, not quickly enough. As a consequence, ever since, his rippling torso, flecked with sea spray and toned with muscle, tapering down to a narrow waist and patch of dark curls, had been flashing through her mind at the most inopportune moments. Mary was beginning to notice how often Charlotte, lost in her imaginings, would spill the inkpot or prick her finger on her needle. And, she was lagging in Georgiana’s rapid-fire conversation and felt especially guilty that while her friend complained of her guardian’s cruelty, her mind idled on what it would feel like to run her hands along the chords of muscle on his back.

“But of course, my dear, I would join you, but I am quite worn out from my outing with the children” Mary replied.

“Of course, I am quite content to be on my own” Charlotte responded, sidestepping to the door while she spoke. She hurriedly placed her bonnet on her head as the footman opened the door, and she stepped out into the bustle of the street. 

“Good day to ‘ye Miss Heywood” shouted Mr. Stringer from above the ringing of hammers. Charlotte smiled kindly, but quickly turned away from the construction and began to walk towards the beach. She saw two images, one the dirt road ahead of her leading down to the coves, and another of Sidney’s frame rising from the water to lock eyes on hers, with a mixture of triumph and mischief in his eyes.

Soon her feet sank into the damp sand and she startled at the realization of where her legs had carried her. How would she explain herself when she did not rightly know how she had come to be there either? She pivoted where she stood, reprimanding her recklessness.

“Come for a swim Miss Heywood,” said a low voice from behind her.

She whirled around to face him, the man in her head, only he was not in her head, he stood only in his waterlogged white shirt, his muscled legs bare. His short curls dripped with seawater and drops pooled above his upper lip. His eyes glinted mischievously.

She did not turn away from him this time but looked down cheeks blazing. “Oh Mr. Parker sir, I… I.. no you mistake me, sir, I only came to walk along the water… I did not follow you”

“I didn’t say you did” he replied lowly, dipping his head to try and catch her lowered eyes.

She twisted her foot into the sand nervously.

“Well seeing as you are already here, would you like to swim?”

Her head snapped up in shock. “I, I can’t sir… I haven’t got anything to wear, and no place to change even if I had” she blustered.

“Suit yourself, a wasted journey” he chided.

Her courage rose before her judgment had time to check it, “It was not a wasted journey sir” she replied starkly, her eyes betraying her by following the curves of his abdomen, discernible through the translucent cotton shirt that clung to his body.

He blanched, raising his eyebrows and taking a half step back to steady himself. His bare legs stood wider, and the hem of his shirt dripped water onto the sand between them.

Horrorstruck, she slapped her gloved hands up to cover her mouth as if to prevent any more truth from escaping.

He laughed lightly as if he did not know whether he should. “And why is that?” he poked.

He took a step closer to where she stood, now rooted in horror at the impropriety of her own words. The tie of her bonnet was so loose from all her anxious tugging, that the hat had fallen off to sit behind her head.

Sidney reached to the loose knot of her bonnet, sitting atop her clavicle. She shivered as his fingers, cold and wet, loosened it just enough for the hat to fall from her shoulders to the ground. She turned her neck, so her face looked down off to the side, cheeks blazing.

He stepped back again. “Come into the water Miss Heywood, it is most invigorating”

She gave a small smile despite herself, “so I have heard.”

He held out his arm to her, beckoning her to him. She did not move, her body frozen, stricken with shock and underneath that, indecisiveness. He hung his head and smiled bashfully as if accepting defeat, “very well then, good day Miss Heywood”. 

He turned his back to her and reached behind to the neck of his shirt, tugging it off his torso in one fluid stroke.

Her rapid breath choked to a halt as his body appeared before her again, but this time it was not an apparition of her distracted mind, it was real. Her whole body shook as he stepped back into the waves, his sculpted back tensing in the cold. Now she would have even more fodder for her imagination. Like she needed more.

Sidney pushed through the waves, his eyes stinging with the salt. He could not turn to look at the land, for now, he wanted to swim farther and farther until Miss Heywood and the feelings she incited in him were nothing but pinpricks in the distance.

Her head swum as Sidney swam away from her. She felt at sea even with her feet planted firmly on land. Her eyes clung to the figure growing smaller with each passing second. She bent to retrieve her bonnet, which sat upside down on the ground and gently shook out the sand. She felt a rush of blood to her face as she lifted her hand to her neck, running her fingers over the spot where the cool of his fingers brushed against the scorching heat of her skin.

Faces played through Charlotte’s racing mind. Mary’s kind eyes interrupted by Sidney’s hungry ones. Georgiana’s mirthless laughs interrupted by Sidney’s piercing smirks. Her father’s weatherworn smile interrupted by the ones Sidney tried in vain to hide.

“These seaside resorts can be odd places,” her father had told her.

“That sounds… stimulating” she had responded carefully. If only Charlotte had known how much truth her answer would hold.

“Well, nothing ever happens in Willingdon” she huffed, squinting at the horizon. If she was to return to Willingdon, she concluded, she would return with enough memories to hold her over for a lifetime of nothingness. 

She turned her head, scanning the flat empty beach and the cliffs above. She was alone, at least as far as she could tell. Her fingers fumbled at the buttons of her dress, rushing to keep ahead of her better judgment, which though lagging since the first note of Sidney's gravelly voice behind her, was never far behind. She may be headstrong but she was not senseless. 

She was out of her bonnet and petticoat now, and her muslin frock blew forward in the breeze as if the earth was pulling her towards him. Next, her shoes and stockings were tossed onto the growing pile on the sand, adjacent to Sidney’s clothes. His leather boots leaned against each other on a rock, while his white shirt lay haphazardly atop his leather pants from where he had so brazenly discarded it in front of her. 

After a few minutes of acrobatics, her shoulders ached with the contortion but Charlotte had managed to grab the laces of her stays and begin to free herself. All the while, her eyes stayed locked on the figure in the distance, swimming back and forth through the waves. 

Finally, she was free. The sea air nipped at her bare skin, exposed above the neckline of her thin chemise. She stepped into the water, gritting her teeth at the cold. He made it look so easy, plunging in and out of the water, without so much as a grimace. She steeled herself and began to wade in faster, it was no use letting herself acclimate to the cold while her courage lasted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this Charlotte is bolder and more reckless than canon Charlotte, I really just wanted to make her as assertive as she had the potential to be, plus when confronted with a naked Sidney Parker what else can you do.

The water was up to her waist when he saw her. Her brown curls were frizzy in the salty air and her features were pinched in the cold. Her hands were balled in fists, curled tightly into her sides. He watched her take another few steps, the water was up to her collarbones now. He ached to see what the water covered, for he knew her slip was nothing more than a translucent layer, plastered to her form, hugging every curve and contour. His legs were beginning to burn with the effort of keeping him afloat, kicking rhythmically beneath him. He could feel his heart beating in his throat, behind his Adam’s apple which bobbed like a buoy in the waves with each sporadic inhale and shaky exhale. He brought his arms out in front of him, and slowly cut through the sea, keeping his head above the waterline and eyes locked on her form. 

Charlotte almost lost her footing when the point in the distance started moving towards her. She froze, tracking his movements until she could discern the expression on his face. He seemed younger when he smiled. Her cheeks blazed as she returned his smile, and she pushed off the ocean floor to kick towards him. 

They stopped about five feet apart from each other, both kicking and pushing upwards with the arms to float. Charlotte stared in silent reverence. His curls were slicked against his neck and temples, and his lips were cherry red. A drop of water dripped down the straight edge of his nose and his long eyelashes were adorned with beads of water. As his body bobbed up and down, his broad shoulders moved in and out of the water, and his neck curved as he cocked his head, squinting through the water in his eyes. 

He broke their silence, punctuated with the sound of the surf and birds overhead. “You changed your mind,”. It felt like a question. 

“Well Mr. Parker, I figured you already had a low enough opinion of me, what’s the point in trying to remedy it… better for me to live up to the naivety and obstinance you accuse me of” she replied sharply, but tinged with playfulness. 

He scoffed. “Now that is hardly a fair claim, I’ve never said anything of the sort.” 

“You do not have to,” she replied indignantly. “Your feelings are clear enough by the way you pass me without any acknowledgment or the disregard you show when I speak--”

“No,” he interrupted. “I will not take the blame for the wrong reasons. You are right, my behavior towards you has been unforgivable and I apologize but it is not for the reasons you supply.” 

“Oh, and what reasons are those, for other than your aversion to simple kindness I cannot make you out sir.”

“I do not--” he bit his tongue and huffed in frustration. “I do not have the gift of goodness that you do. You, you walk around as if you are weightless, whereas I feel like I am trudging through every damn day.” 

“So you believe me to be ignorant?” she countered, eyes blazing into the side of his face, where he looked away, out to open water. 

“I never said that Christ, Charlotte, will you not let me compliment you without putting words in my mouth,” he said, shaking his head so droplets rained down around him. 

Charlotte. It hung in the air between them. 

“Forgive me, Miss Heywood” he enunciated, feeling the hard edge in his voice return as he remonstrated himself for his outburst.

He risked a sideways glance. Her cheeks were blooming and her brows were scrunched in concentration as if she was translating his words. 

“Mr. Parker… you have made me someone I am not… I am not weightless nor am I all that good, I am here, aren’t I? This is not what a good girl would do” 

“And what is this?” 

“Why are you asking me, aren’t I meant to be naive?” 

He scoffed again, splashing away from himself with a cupped hand. “Very well Miss Heywood, I see I am no match for your wit, we shall pretend this never happened, as we did the last time.” He began to turn away, the water slowing his body's movements. 

“Wait Mr.Parker, I…” her cheeks burned as she looked down at the water, “I cannot promise to forget this meeting, for I have not yet forgotten the last.” 

“I did not say forget, I said pretend” 

“I think pretense is more your territory sir, you know I cannot live a lie” 

“What is this lie you live?” 

“I cannot say it is too…”

“Come now, don’t let your honesty fail. It is a virtue you know’ 

“That’s just it, my virtue, how can I claim it when I cannot so much as hear your name without transporting back to meeting you in the cove. How you looked, how you said my name, how you blushed… how can I live in a house with your portrait when every time I pass by I lose my focus.” 

Seconds passed. A gull squawked loudly. The tide pushed rhythmically towards the shore. His eyebrows were furrowed and his thumb swiped across his upper lip. 

He opened his mouth, then shut it, as if thinking better of it. Then again, and this time “so you find me distracting then, might I ask which part of me?” he asked, his head mockingly tilted to the side. His eyes gleamed. 

Charlotte felt a swooping sensation in her stomach as if a bird that had been nestled behind the bars of her ribcage suddenly spread its wings and soared in great loops of joy at its newfound freedom. She could answer his question without a second's hesitation, but she would not give him the satisfaction. 

A splash of saltwater engulfed his face, making him splutter and gasp. By the time he had opened his stinging eyes, she was a body length away from him, kicking as fast as her petite frame allowed. 

He gritted his teeth as he lunged through the water, wrapping one large hand around her ankle, and tugged her body back to him in one fluid pull. She shrieked, laughing through mouthfuls of water. She turned so she was floating on her back, with her neck craned up so she could see him, face split with a rare wide smile and sparkling eyes. Her legs settled around his waist, ankles interlocking around his lower back, and her torso swayed parallel to his. Her arms snaked around his broad, sun-kissed shoulders so she was completely supported by him. He was now treading water for the both of them, and his legs kicked powerfully below them, and her body rhythmically rose and fell above him. 

She leaned in and rested her forehead, plastered with strands of dark hair, against his. 

“Are you sure?” he whispered, his lips ghosting over hers. 

Sidney brought his hand from where it had snaked around her waist to her chin, tilting it slightly. Charlotte thought his eyes looked like amber up close. 

“Positive” she exhaled. 

She felt his arm clench as he pulled her body to his, her soaked chemise floated up around her ribs so his fingers splayed against her bare hips. She let out a small exhale as her chest met his so that it felt like every inch of her body had melded with his. Their lips slotted against each other, moving with the intensity of the waves, pushing and pulling like the tides. Charlotte clung to Sidney who moaned as her fingers tightened in his short curls at the nape of his neck as if she would drift out to sea in a haze of bliss without him as her anchor. 

His mouth chased hers, gently sucking at her bottom lip. She tasted of salt and sweetness. Charlotte could feel the bird in the pit of her stomach twirling in the air, beating its wings to the pace of her rapid heart. 

Sidney moaned as she slipped her tongue past his lips, toying with the tip of his tongue. He tasted like salt and smoke. 

Eventually, she drew back, gasping for breath. His mouth, red and wet, turned to her jaw, the sensitive spot below her ear, her neck, leaving a trail of hot and heady kisses in his wake. 

“Mr. Parker”, she panted, her head tilted upwards as Sidney kissed and bit at her neck. 

“Sidney,” he growled, not bothering to pause in his attention to the underside of her jaw. He wanted her to be littered with his love, for people to know that he, undeserving as he is, had somehow earned the love, or at least lust, of the perfect Miss Heywood. 

“Sidney” she repeated breathily. 

He groaned at the sound of his name on her lips, raising his hand to the back of her neck to pull her to him and crashing his lips into hers once again, hungry and desperate for more. 

His legs burned. And while it was easy to ignore with the intoxicating effects of Charlotte's lips on his own, he could feel his muscles straining in protest. He would have to control himself, or he would quite literally drown in lust. 

He pulled back from her lips, where she had begun to experiment nipping at his own. She was a quick study. 

“Charlotte we must stop,” her head pulled back, and her big brown eyes widened in surprise and trepidation like she was waiting for him to tell her off as was his unfortunate habit. 

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked quietly.

“No! No, my dear, it is not you. It is that I would rather ravish you on land, with my feet firmly planted on the ground. If my heart does not expire, my legs surely will and then they will have to dredge us from the bottom of the sea, and that’s not exactly a boon for tourism. Tom would kill me all over again.” he said bluntly. 

Her face broke into a shy smile and Sidney had to resist the urge to nose at the dimples in her cheeks. 

She would be the death of him, if not now then later. 

“Race you” she blurted. 

And she was off. For someone who had never seen the ocean until this summer, Charlotte felt she was a reasonably strong swimmer. The river that winded through her father's land had been good enough practice. 

She heard his bark of incredulous laughter before she dove underwater, her straight arms in an arrowhead above her head and her legs kicking furiously. She could hear him gaining on her. She knew she was no match for his strength, but Charlotte held great sway in her stubbornness and willpower. She was not one to back down from a challenge. 

And of course, neither was Sidney. Soon enough, his body was parallel to hers, his muscular form cutting through the water. If she was not so competitive she would have paused at the sight of the sun glinting off his back as he raced past her. Instead, she redoubled her efforts, despite their futility. The surf broke and she coasted in, feeling the sand beneath her toes as she righted herself, grinning triumphantly and breathing hard, indifferent to her defeat. He stood at the shore, his arms held aloft in victory. 

“Well you are just full of surprises Miss Heywood” he quipped, standing with his stance split and arms folded across his toned chest, with a smirk plastered on his face. A thin sheen of sweat and seawater had gathered on his brows, which seemed to Charlotte to be perpetually furrowed, even in his happiness. She decided she didn’t mind what his face looked like after he had kissed her like that. 

“Thank you for not going easy on me” she responded, as she waded through the foam-tipped waves. “I would always rather lose on my own terms than win on someone else's.” 

“Ah well, I saw no reason to go easy on you, you have proven surprisingly capable these past weeks”, conceded Sidney jokingly. He reached for her waist as she strode towards him, spinning her so that her back pressed against his front, and his arms circled her hips. 

Charlotte gasped when she felt his erection press against her hip. 

“What’s more, I love to see you all flushed and breathless, makes me think of all the other ways I could get you worked up” he murmured lowly against the shell of her ear. 

Her eyes fluttered shut as he kissed down her neck, sucking lightly at the sensitive skin with his teeth, flitting out his tongue to cool the pulsing skin. Soon he was lifting his hand to her nipples, teasing with his forefinger and thumb until Charlotte arched into his hand, mewling as his rough cheek grazed against the sensitive skin of her neck. 

Charlotte felt as if steam rose off the droplets of water on her skin when his hot breath ghosted over her. 

She reached blindly behind her, glancing her palm down his hardness. He jerked his head from the crook of her neck, biting his lip to muffle a moan. She smirked indulgently, here was the man who told her he neither cared for what she thought or felt, moaning at her lightest touch. Spurred on by his reaction and her remembrance, she turned in his grasp so she faced him. 

“You asked me which parts of you were a distraction… may I show you?” she slid her palm tantalizingly down his abdomen. She paused at the deep v shape of his waist and looked up through her eyelashes. He slipped out his tongue to wet his lips hungrily and his eyes were blown black with need. His throat bobbed as he nodded his head slowly, his jaw clenched enough for Charlotte to make out a muscle throbbing in his temple. 

His eyes fluttered shut with a short puff of breath as soon as she began to move her slack grip up and down. A pink hue bloomed in his cheeks and spread across his nose, and his chest heaved. One hand clenched a fist at his side, while the other gently held her curls, taking care not to tug. 

“Christ, Char…” his word tailing off as she tightened her grip on him, creating more friction on his velvet soft skin. 

“Mmhmm Sidney” she murmured, relishing in his entranced face, hanging slack now, his lips parted so his breaths escaped in great pants and sighs. She had never seen anything so beautiful in all her life. Not the magnificent tile floors at Lady Denhams or when her eyes caught the sea for the first time. He was all sharp lines and soft sounds. And she was lost in him, in the memory, he would become. This was a scene she would never, could never, forget. 

He let go with a growling moan, his hand tightening in her curls as she slowed her movements and released her hand, wiping his release on her damp shift. She rose from her knees, smiling as she rested her head on his heaving chest to listen to the rapid beating of his heart. 

“Sometimes I wonder if you can be real or if I have created you through some depravity of my mind.” 

She looked up from his chest at his words. 

“I should think I am real enough after what just happened” she laughed “I don’t know if your head could manage that” 

“Oh my dear, you have no idea” he murmured wickedly, smiling at her unspoiled innocence even after what she had just done, as he captured her lips with his own. 

A gust of cold wind blew through Charlotte's chemise, reminding her of their vulnerability to changing weather and watchful eyes. Every minute spent on the beach meant more chance of being seen. She loathed to think how quickly word would spread, from the tittering Beaufort girls to the good-natured, but rowdy, terrace laborers. 

She pulled back. “Sidney, we have been gone too long. Mary will start to wonder,” she said breathlessly. 

He smiled and brought a hand to the side of her face, which she leaned into, chasing its warmth. “Yes, I’m afraid you are right as always dear Charlotte. Let us make ourselves presentable,” he said, now holding her hand as they ambled up the sand to where their clothes lay in heaps. 

They parted and began dressing. He was in the midst of tugging on a boot while hopping on the other foot, when she walked to him and turned, skirts swishing.  
She stood with her back to him, with her stays untied. Without a word he stood from his crouched position and began to work at the laces. She could feel the heat of his breath on her back as his nimble fingers moved upwards. At the last loop, he bent to place a slow kiss to the skin above the hem of her slip, breathing in the saltwater on her skin. 

She wriggled from his grip on her hips to his groan of disapproval. She turned her head, flashing him an uncharacteristically mischievous smirk that sent shockwaves down his spine. Smiling, she pulled her frock over her head, along with her bonnet. Sand chafed at her soft skin beneath her clothes and her half-dried hair had tangled into knots at her back. Still, despite her knotted hair and crumpled clothes, Charlotte had never felt happier in her own skin. The finest gown in all the wardrobes of London's beau monde could not compete with the brilliance with which her happiness shone through her every movement, every word, and every laugh as she and Sidney began their walk toward town together. He held her arm close to him, and slowed his long strides to match her own, so their linked arms never parted. They walked this way until the slanted roofs of Sanditon came into view, then, with great reluctance, Sidney dropped her arm. And just in time. 

“Mr. Parker, Miss ‘Eywood, a pleasure to see ye both” came a voice from up ahead. 

“Mr. Stringer”, Charlotte gasped happily. 

Sidney could manage nothing more than a nod in greeting, as his jaw clenched tightly at the obvious familiarity Charlotte regarded Mr. Stringer with. He stood tall, doing his best to refrain from glowering, as they exchanged pleasantries. Stringer was out on an “idea walk”, he was in the process of drafting a new plan for a bathhouse and required fresh air to think he said, Charlotte of course found this most interesting. Sidney would have been interested too if he had not been focused on the way Stringer looked at Charlotte as if she hung the stars, he was practically batting his eyelashes for her. The man was enamored with her. 

“I see I am not the only man in Sanditon who has fallen for your charms Charlotte,” he said matter of factly as they walked on with his hands behind his back. 

“I beg your pardon sir” she spluttered incredulously. “Mr. Stringer is perfectly respectful to me, we are friends and that is all” she continued, regaining some of her composure as she went. 

“Right well,” he snarled. “Friendship is not his intention, I assure you. Men do not wish you to be their friend, they wish you to be their wife” he said as briskly as his pace. 

Charlotte's mouth fell open in shock. “And are you speaking from personal experience, sir?” 

Dammit. He set himself up. 

“Whether or not I am is besides the point. Mr.Stringer does not want you as a friend. I cannot understand how you do not see it when it was painfully obvious to me” 

She bit back a grin. Jealousy looked good on him. She stopped walking and raised her doe eyes to his stern ones. 

“He is perfectly harmless, I promise you and even if he weren’t I wouldn’t say. You look much too handsome when you are jealous” she spoke deliberately. 

He scoffed. “I’m not jealous”

Her fingers toyed at the cuff of his coat sleeve. 

“Really?” she asked softly. 

He only huffed in response. He opened his mouth and paused. Then again, and this time. “You know I am, so quit your teasing and come here.” 

He pulled her roughly against him, his hands cupping her jaw to guide her to meet his lips. She gasped into him as he kissed her so passionately her knees shook. She felt molten to the touch. 

He pulled away, his lungs harshly pulling in air, as he rested his forehead on hers, holding her body to his. A shy smile spread across her face as they locked eyes.

Neither could ever need anything more.


End file.
